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Yale grades portray Kerry as a lackluster student By / Boston Globe — Permalink WASHINGTON — During last year's presidential campaign, John F. Kerry was the candidate often portrayed as intellectual and complex, while George W. Bush was the populist who mangled his sentences. | |
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Red @ScaredMonkeys: That he received 4 D's and one in political science. Now I understand. John Kerry, the intellectual man. LeanLeft: Nothing Changes: Kerry Still Innocent, Bush Still Stupid — Filed under: General Politics Bloggin Culture Media — KTK ... Ace: Our suspicions were correct. |
Patrick Ruffini: Nuanced â Smart — Many are hearing the sweet song of vindication in John Kerry's report card, but none more so than Ann Althouse. Hugh Hewitt: Even the article on Kerry's Yale grades is spun round. William J. Dyer: The second article focuses on Kerry's Yale undergraduate grades and concludes that Kerry was a "lackluster student" whose grade average was "virtually identical" to Dubya's. |
| Also: Roger L. Simon, Steve Soto, Joe Gandelman, Tom Maguire, TheAnchoress, Angry Clam, Kevin Aylward, Ann Althouse, Michelle Malkin, Scott @PowerLine, Captain Ed, John Hawkins, Taegan Goddard, Jay Tea, Marc @USSNeverdock, James Joyner, Brad Plumer, Oliver @LiquidList, Glenn Reynolds, Roger Ailes, Clayton Cramer, Chris Lawrence, Orrin Judd, Bill @INDCJournal, Mike Rappaport, Bigwig, Vox Day, Will Collier, Pejman Yousefzadeh, K. J. Lopez | |
Kerry allows Navy release of military, medical records By / Boston Globe — Permalink WASHINGTON — Senator John F. Kerry, ending at least two years of refusal, has waived privacy restrictions and authorized the release of his full military and medical records. | |
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Red @ScaredMonkeys: Now that he has released the information, what was he so afraid of? Hugh Hewitt: From the Globe story: "Asked why he delayed signing the form for so long, Kerry said in a written response: ''The call... Chris Bowers: Kerry Releases Military Records — While any mention of Kerry's military records causes my digestive system to brace for... |
Avedon Carol: Well, now he has, and they look far better than anyone expected. Commissar: The line on the head of today's Boston Globe, Led Mister J. F. K. to give up all hope. Kriston @BeggingToDiffer: The Boston Globe: "The lack of any substantive new material about Kerry's military career in the documents raises the... |
| Also: William J. Dyer, Steve Soto, Tom Maguire, McQ, Oliver Willis, Michelle Malkin, Scott @PowerLine, Lorie Byrd, Captain Ed, PoliPundit, Taegan Goddard, Marc @USSNeverdock, Kevin Drum, Patterico, Ezra Klein, Gerry @DalyThoughts, Kos @DailyKos, Richard TPD, ArchPundit, Atrios, K. J. Lopez, Roger Ailes | |
In S.F., Dean calls GOP 'a white Christian party' By / San Francisco Chronicle — Permalink Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean, unapologetic in the face of recent criticism that he has been too tough on his political opposition, said in San Francisco this week that Republicans are "a pretty monolithic party. They all behave the same. | |
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Captain Ed: Dean Plays Race Card — Howard Dean continued his self-immolation as DNC chair yesterday, telling a San Francisco... Orrin Judd: AND DEMOCRATS THEIR OPPONENTS: In S.F. Alexander K. McClure: Howard Dean — In what is becoming a pretty funny stream of gaffes, Howard Dean has added this one: Republicans are... |
Charles Johnson: DNC Chairman Dean: GOP a "White Christian Party" — Howard Dean continues his very prolonged, very public meltdown: In S.F. Gerry @DalyThoughts: He's a Uniter, Not a Divider — As I was musing over the latest Deanism… [snipped quote] … it dawned on me... Steve Bainbridge: Is Howard Dean a Rove Plant? [snipped quote] Res ipsa loquitur |
| Also: Taegan Goddard | |
Post-ABC Poll: Bush Ignoring Public Concerns By / WaPo — Permalink A clear majority of Americans say President Bush is ignoring the public's concerns and instead has become distracted by issues that most people say they care little about, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. | |
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Steve Soto: ABC News/Washington Post Poll Undercuts Rationale For Bush's Second Term (Thanks to the Washington Post for the... Oliver @LiquidList: Politics: How Bad Are Bush's Numbers? Let's just say that if this WaPo-ABC poll were a snack, it would be a pretzel. Chris Bowers: In yet another poll, his disapproval has reached an all-time high: [snipped quote] Democrats have also been consistently... |
Avedon Carol: Popular president: Six in ten respondents said Bush and GOP leaders are not making good progress on the nation's... Kevin Drum: In today's Washington Post poll, for example, we learn that only 41% of Americans approve of the way Congress is doing... Ezra Klein: King of the Playground — The new Washington Post poll bears so much bad news for Bush that you'd think he was the... |
| Also: Richard Bradley, Taegan Goddard, Oliver Willis, Zoe Kentucky, Jeralyn Merritt, Kos @DailyKos, Arthur Silber | |
Katherine Harris to Run for Senate in 2006 By / AP — Permalink TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Republican Rep. Katherine Harris (news, bio, voting record), who as Florida's secretary of state was both praised and vilified for her part in the 2000 presidential recount, said Tuesday she will run for the Senate next year against Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson. | |
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Avedon Carol: Oh, gross. Brad DeLong says upper income folks are starting to get angry now that it turns out that they, too, are paying higher taxes in order to make the top 0.1% richer. James Joyner: Katherine Harris to Run for Senate in 2006 — Katherine Harris, made nationally famous during the 2000 presidential... Gerry @DalyThoughts: Katherine Harris to Run for Senate in 2006 — The AP via Yahoo: [snipped quote] Addendum: This is one of those cases where I suspect the owls are not quite what they seem. |
Alexander K. McClure: 2006 Florida Senate Race — Katharine Harris has declared her candidacy for the Senate, as Jayson has already noted. Jayson @PoliPundit: Harris — Katherine Harris has joined the race to take on Bill Nelson in Florida. Pros: Experienced candidate. Orrin Judd: SIXTY IS COMING INTO VIEW: Katherine Harris to run for Senate in 2006 (BRENDAN FARRINGTON, June 7, 2005, AP) |
Anne Bancroft, Actress Who Played Mrs. Robinson, Is Dead at 73 By / NYT — Permalink Anne Bancroft, the stage and film star whose signature triumphs in a 50-year career ranged from the courageous Annie Sullivan in "The Miracle Worker" to the hungrily seductive Mrs. Robinson in "The Graduate," died on Monday at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan. | |
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Arthur Silber: A MAGNIFICENT ACTRESS, AND A GREAT LOSS — June 7th, 2005 This is terribly sad news: [snipped quote] Bancroft was a magnificent and stunning actress. Norm Geras: Anne Bancroft 1931-2005 — Anne Bancroft has died of cancer. Roger L. Simon: Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson... Anne Bancroft dies at 73. |
Kevin Roderick: Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson * The GraduateAnne Bancroft, an actress for fifty years, has died of uterine cancer in New York. Pejman Yousefzadeh: REMEMBRANCE OF THE DAY — Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson. |
Actress Anne Bancroft Dies at Age 73 By / AP — Permalink NEW YORK - Anne Bancroft, who won the 1962 best actress Oscar as the teacher of a young Helen Keller in "The Miracle Worker" but achieved greater fame as the seductive Mrs. Robinson in "The Graduate," has died. She was 73. | |
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Greg @TheTalentShow: Reading through her obituary, I couldn't help but think the following that I love The Graduate, but the older I get, the... Damian Penny: Anne Bancroft, R.I.P. She passed away from cancer, at age 73, on Monday. My condolences to Mel Brooks, to whom she was married since 1956. K. J. Lopez: HERE'S TO YOU, MRS. ROBINSON — Anne Bancroft, R.I.P. |
Jeralyn Merritt: Here's to You, Mrs. Robinson: R.I.P. Actress Ann Bancroft, best known to the world for her role as Mrs. Robinson in the... Kevin Aylward: Anne Bancroft died today of cancer at the age of 73. |
Fundraisers jilt Dean By / The Hill — Permalink Three top fundraisers at the Democratic National Committee have resigned at a time when its chairman, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, has come under fire from fellow Democrats for controversial comments and his Republican counterpart has raised more than twice as much money. | |
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Captain Ed: He's driving off major donors, claiming that the party needs to focus on Internet collections instead of deep-pocket patrons. Chris Andersen: The myth of Dean's fundraising problems — Reading the headline on this report (Fundraisers jilt Dean) and some of the... Taegan Goddard: Three DNC Fundraisers Quit — Three top DNC fundraisers have resigned at a time when chairman Howard Dean, "has come... |
Tom @ScaredMonkeys: From The Hill, the newspaper for and about Congress. Scott Sala: In a story grilling Howard Dean for 3 of his top fundraisers quitting, is the tale of one woman who was reponsible for the New York area. Gerry @DalyThoughts: Fundraisers jilt Dean — Brian H via Drudge points me to this piece in The Hill: [snipped quote] The 2006 elections will likely make or break Howard Dean's chairmanship. |
| Also: K. J. Lopez | |
Kerry, Bush had similar grades AP — Permalink BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) — Sen. John F. Kerry's grade average at Yale University was virtually identical to President Bush's record there, despite repeated portrayals of Kerry as the more intellectual candidate during the 2004 presidential campaign. | |
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Red @ScaredMonkeys: So after all the puff pieces on Kerry and his brilliance by the media we find out that he was just as non-serious about college as was President Bush. Charles Johnson: Kerry: A Lackluster Student — John F. Kerry has finally released some of his records, and the left's shining light, the... Alexander K. McClure: Academic Standing — Senator Kerry is SO much smarter than President Bush. Right. I'm sure this story will lead the CBS Evening News. |
Blackfive: Next, his grades. I find it highly amusing that an elitist snob like Kerry was such a mediocre student. Oliver @LiquidList: Media: Riveting Investigative Journalism, That — CNN: Still liberal after all these years. Great journalism, too. |
CNN's New Chemistry Set: O'Brien & O'Brien By / WaPo — Permalink Rick Squarejaw is heading to the Land of Pursuing Opportunities Elsewhere and Miles O'Brien will replace him as co-anchor of CNN's ayem show "American Morning," joining Soledad O'Brien for a three-hour, all-O'Brien weekday block on the cable news network. | |
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ArchPundit: What Atrios Said about Hemmer — Here [snipped quote] Not that I care to watch 24/7 coverage of a runaway blonde or frank... Brian Stelter: > To the Washington Post: "What's vital in the morning is chemistry between anchors. Jesse Taylor: Unwatchability Is The New "Good" — Requisite Soledad banter-buddy replaced with new requisite Soledad banter-buddy,... |
Joe Gandelman: Changes At CNN: O'Brien & O'Brien In And Hemmer Out — Big changes at CNN where heads are being added and rolled in what actually is typical staff juggling in the broadcast biz. Jim Romenesko: Hemmer declines CNN WH reporting job, will leave network — Washington Post "American Morning" co-anchor Bill Hemmer... Atrios: What does it say about Bill Hemmer, who's usually even more smug about the art of journalism than Aaron Brown is, that... |
| Also: Garrett M. Graff | |
The Bush Economy NYT — Permalink With all of the debate about taxes, the economy and domestic spending, it is hard to imagine anyone supporting the notion of taking money from programs like Medicaid and college-tuition assistance, increasing the tax burden of the vast majority of working... | |
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Avedon Carol: Brad DeLong says upper income folks are starting to get angry now that it turns out that they, too, are paying higher taxes in order to make the top 0.1% richer. Brad DeLong: They are really angry: The Bush Economy - New York Times: In last Sunday's Times, David Cay Johnston reported that... |
Matthew Yglesias: I appreciate the point that the Bush administration's giveaways to hyper-wealthy people racking in over a million bucks... |
The Great Ground Zero Heist By / WSJ — Permalink On Memorial Day weekend, three Marines from the 24th Expeditionary Unit who had been wounded in Iraq were joined by 300 other service members for a wreath-laying ceremony at the empty pit of Ground Zero. The broken pieces of the Twin Towers have long ago been cleared away. | |
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Charles Johnson: UPDATE at 6/7/05 7:54:12 am: Here's a special link to the article, good for 7 days without a subscription: The Great Ground Zero Heist. Steve Bainbridge: 9/11 Deserves Better — In an op-ed unfortunately lodged behind the WSJ($)'s subscriber's only firewall (update: RCP's... |
Paul @PowerLine: Leftist larceny — Little Green Footballs alerted us to this deeply disturbing column in the WSJ by Debra Burlingame,... Mitch Berg: She relates how a politically-correct pressure group has hijacked the 9/11 memorial at Ground Zero: [snipped quote] What does this mean? |
Most Will Be Mentally Ill at Some Point, Study Says By / NYT — Permalink More than half of Americans will develop a mental illness at some point in their lives, often beginning in childhood or adolescence, researchers have found in a survey that experts say will have wide-ranging implications for the practice of psychiatry. | |
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Arianna Huffington: According to a new study by the National Institute of Mental Health, over half of Americans will develop a mental illness at some point in their lives. Robert Tagorda: Survey: Over Half of Americans Will Develop Mental Illness — The New York Times describes a study that's provoking... Jeff Jarvis: The person next to you is nuts : The NY Times reports today that more than half of us will be "mentally ill" sometime in our lives. |
Jan Haugland: Some upbuilding news from the New York Times: More than half of Americans will develop a mental illness at some point in... Tom Maguire: The Glass Is Half Crazy — We can't say these psychiatrists, and the reporters who flack for them, lack for optimism:... |
AP Newsbreak: Harris to challenge Nelson for Senate seat By / AP — Permalink TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Republican U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris, who was praised and vilified for her role as Florida's secretary of state in the 2000 presidential recount, said Tuesday she will run for the U.S. Senate next year against Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson. | |
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Michael Froomkin: Oh yes it can: Harris to challenge Nelson for Senate seat. ArchPundit: It's a Lot Like Christmas — Katherine Harris is running for the US Senate in Florida. Thank you. |
Kos @DailyKos: FL-Sen: Harris is in — Part of me is happy. Part of me wants to throw up. |
Federalism, Up in Smoke? NRO — Permalink The Supreme Court upholds a sweeping justification of federal power. In 1996, California became the first of nine states to decriminalize the medical use of marijuana. | |
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Pejman Yousefzadeh: Behold the key passage: [snipped quote] And the other is by Jonathan Adler who accurately—and depressingly—sums up the... |
Forkum: And TIA Daily noted this National Review op-ed by Johnathan H. Adler: Federalism, Up in Smoke? |
Shriver says author wrong about 'Today' NY Daily News — Permalink California First Lady Maria Shriver says she's not, repeat not, vetting author appearances on the "Today" show - never mind that her husband's biographer, Laurence Leamer, blasted her yesterday in The New York Times. | |
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Kevin Roderick: Maria: Book never came up — Maria Shriver tells the New York Daily News' Lloyd Grove that she had no contact with... Cookie Jill: found on nydailynews "the front page": "dissing dean: i hear that hip hop summit honcho russell simmons, a loyal... |
Brian Stelter: > Following yesterday's Shriver-Smith-Murphy-Leam er story in the Times, Shriver tells Lloyd Grove she's not vetting author appearances for the Today show. Taegan Goddard: Mehlman Wins Over Simmons — After a meeting yesterday with RNC chairman Ken Mehlman, Hip Hop mogul and "loyal Democrat"... |
State's Evidence By / TNR — Permalink Yesterday the Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Gonzalez v. Raich, upholding a federal ban on marijuana possession despite California's efforts to legalize medical marijuana. | |
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Pejman Yousefzadeh: One is by Will Baude. Will Baude: The Remnants of the Commerce Clause — State's Evidence, my take on Raich, is now online at TNR. |
Julian Sanchez: But stare decisis is a harsh mistress... Addendum: Will Baude over at The New Republic makes an argument similar to (my... |
'Lactivists' Taking Their Cause, and Their Babies, to the Streets By / NYT — Permalink The calls for a "nurse-in" began on the Internet mere moments after Barbara Walters uttered a negative remark about public breast-feeding on her ABC talk show, "The View." Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times | |
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Ann Althouse: Nursing mothers protest Barbara Walters. Walters dared to say she felt uncomfortable sitting next to a nursing mother on an airplane. Jeff Jarvis: All of which leads to just one conclusion: In America, breasts are news. : SPEAKING OF WHICH.... |
Kevin Drum: LACTIVISM....Barbara Walters said a few weeks ago that "the sight of a woman breast-feeding on an airplane next to her had made her uncomfortable." Lindsay Beyerstein: In other nipple news "'Lactivists' Taking Their Cause, and Their Babies, to the Streets By AMY HARMON The calls for a... |
Fallout of marijuana verdict By / Christian Science Monitor — Permalink ASHLAND, ORE. - The US Supreme Court's decision this week asserting federal control over marijuana used for medical purposes would seem to bring that controversial practice to a halt. Uncle Sam - not the states - has the last word here, the court ruled. | |
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Jeff Goldstein: Now, if someone would just introduce legislation reminding lawmakers (and certain justices) that the enumeration of... |
Forkum: Christian Science Monitor has an overview of the implications the Supreme Court ruling: Fallout of marijuana verdict |
Man With Chain Saw Allowed to Enter U.S. By / AP — Permalink BOSTON — On April 25, Gregory Despres arrived at the U.S. -Canadian border crossing at Calais, Maine, carrying a homemade sword, a hatchet, a knife, brass knuckles and a chain saw stained with what appeared to be blood. U.S. customs agents confiscated the weapons and fingerprinted Despres. | |
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Richard TPD: It's working like a charm. "On April 25, Gregory Despres arrived at the U.S. |
Glenn Reynolds: The question: "At a time when the United States is tightening its borders, how could a man toting what appeared to be a bloody chain saw be allowed into the country?" |
Sen. Clinton Bashes Bush on Environment By / AP — Permalink NEW YORK - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton criticized the Bush administration's record on unemployment, women's rights and the environment, saying it is "intent upon consolidating and abusing power." "We are living in a time when the other side doesn't want us to see the facts. | |
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Acidman: one witch, needing a broom — It takes a lot to frighten me anymore, but this person does. Bejus help us all if she ever becomes President. Jayson @PoliPundit: Idle Time, Idle Mind — Hillary ("Common Good") Clinton. |
Steve Antler: Just as Hillary Clinton raises the rising duration of unemployment complaint (info can be found here and here) to a new... |
Watergate Weighs on Today's White House By / LAT — Permalink WASHINGTON — Shortly after a 91-year-old man was revealed last week as the answer to the 30-year-old mystery of the Watergate affair, President Bush cast the scandal as something from the distant past. "It would kind of fade from my memory, and then all of a sudden, somebody would pop it back in. | |
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Jim Romenesko: > Dean can't imagine Bush administration holding Felt in high regard (LAT) > Experts not surprised to hear others in FBI leaked with Felt (Albany TU) Laura Rozen: Go read. Update: An interesting piece from the LAT, "Watergate Weighs on Today's White House." |
Jayson @PoliPundit: Projection — By the Los Angeles Times. Neil Young once wrote: "But every junkie's like a settin' sun." Yep. |
Bush 'to pledge Africa aid cash' BBC — Permalink US President George W Bush is set to pledge $674m (350m) in aid for Africa as part of a joint initiative with visiting UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. Mr Blair is in Washington to press for the president's support for his plans to get Africa back on its feet. | |
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RJ Eskow: blair and the labor party's future leader, gordon brown, have been frustrated by bush's unwillingness to support their... |
Marvin: President Bush is set to announce that the U.S. will further increase aid to Africa, to the tune of $674 million, while continuing his opposition to the remainder of Blair's plan. |
Doing a 180 By / American Spectator — Permalink Before Memorial Day weekend, Sen. John Kerry sat down with editors of his hometown newspaper, the Boston Globe and announced that he had signed the form SF 180, authorizing the Department of Defense to grant access to all his military records. | |
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Michelle Malkin: More from: Ankle Biting Pundits The Spectator Online Lorie Byrd at Polipundit Harry Forbes John Podhoretz says, "Let it go." |
Marc @USSNeverdock: UPDATE The American Spectator has similar questions and notes this: "A member of the Harvard Law School admissions... |
The Downing Street Memo Story Won't Die By / WaPo — Permalink More than a month after its publication, the so-called Downing Street Memo remains among the top 10 most viewed articles on The Times of London site. It's not hard to see why this remarkable document, published in The Times on May 1 (and reported in this... | |
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Nellie B: Nellie B: Not Dead Yet — For those of us perturbed that the Downing Street Memo has not received the journalistic... |
Rep. John Conyers: First, this morning, I came across an insightful column on this matter from a reporter named Jefferson Morley on Washingtonpost.com. |
Terminal Futility By / Slate — Permalink Is there anyone reading this column who would agree with Mark O. Hatfield Jr., spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration, that in the past year "the average peak wait time at [airport] checkpoints has dropped a minute ... to about 12 minutes"? | |
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Richard TPD: Christopher Hitchens savages the idiotic mess in a tragi-comic column. |
Dale Franks: A bang-up job at the TSA — Christopher Hitchens isn't impressed by the crack profresssionals who run the airport screening line. |
A Chance to Escape By / NYT — Permalink Students like Adrian Bushell have always posed an awkward political problem for opponents of school tuition vouchers. Like most students receiving vouchers in Florida, he is black and lives in a poor neighborhood with bad public schools. | |
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Joanne Jacobs: Low blow — Florida's voucher program gave Adrian Bushell A Chance to Escape a bad neighborhood school, writes columnist John Tierney in the New York Times. Orrin Judd: THE COMING TWEAK: A Chance to Escape (JOHN TIERNEY, 6/07/05, NY Times) [snipped quote] What NCLB did was put the structure for such a program in place. |
Attaturk: Today's editorial is a triumph of the singular. The question for poor inner city schools continues to be the obtaining and allocation of resources. Steve Antler: Education Time Bomb — The political signficance of certain numbers casually thrown around in this (okay) NYT editorial seem to have escaped the author. |
E-Mails Detail Air Force Push for Boeing Deal By / WaPo — Permalink For the past three years, the Air Force has described its $30 billion proposal to convert passenger planes into military refueling tankers and lease them from Boeing Co. as an efficient way to obtain aircraft the military urgently needs. | |
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Cookie Jill: "- wapo" boeing off to finagle the brits, too? "boeing co. PGL: Corporate Pork: the Lease v. Buy Decision — Via bgreer comes this Washington Post story: "For the past three years,... Billmon: "Washington Post E-Mails Detail Air Force Push for Boeing Deal June 7, 2005 The 256-page Pentagon inspector general's..." |
Zoe Kentucky: Today's Washington Post details how a certain GOP-supporting flailing company got a $30 billion dollar government... Steve Bainbridge: Ike was right — New details on the Air Force plan to lease tankers from Boeing: [snipped quote] Huh. |
China orders bloggers to register with government AP — Permalink The Chinese authorities have ordered all weblogs and websites in the country to register with the government or face closure in Beijing's latest attempt to control online dissent. | |
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Harry @HarrysPlace: PRC cracks down on blogs — The Chinese authorities have ordered all weblogs and websites in the country to register... |
Andrew Sullivan: CHINA VERSUS BLOGS: The crackdown continues. |
The Beast from the East, &c. NRO — Permalink I figured someone ought to speak frankly about China sometime soon, and who was the one to do it? Rumsfeld, of course. The War on Terror has been an enormous undertaking; China was supposed to be the Main Event, in this decade. | |
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TheAnchoress: Jay Nordlinger quotes him: For those who have wondered what happened to my musings all spring, the official answer of 'on leave' didn't tell the entire story. |
Betsy Newmark: It is always a treat to read one of Jay Nordlinger's Impromptus columns. I love the way his mind works. |
Katherine Harris announces run for U.S. Senate in 2006 By / AP — Permalink TALLAHASSEE — Republican U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris, who was praised and vilified for her role as Florida's secretary of state in the 2000 presidential recount, said Tuesday she will run for the U.S. Senate next year against Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson. | |
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John Cole: This Should Be Fun — This news just made my day: [snipped quote] The entertainment value of the 2006 election just went through the roof. |
Taegan Goddard: Update: The AP confirms that Harris will run for the Senate next year against Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson. |
Critics: Pentagon in blinders By / Chicago Tribune — Permalink WASHINGTON — Nearly 16 years ago, a group of four military officers and a civilian predicted the rise of terrorism and anti-American insurgencies with chilling accuracy. | |
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Cernig: Critics: Pentagon Blind to New Tactics For Iraq — There's more about the 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment, currently... Arthur Silber: Thus, even though exceptionally knowledgeable military experts were making these arguments as early as 1989 (and... |
James Joyner: Critics: Pentagon in blinders (Chicago Tribune) "Nearly 16 years ago, a group of four military officers and a civilian... |
What Were Those Justices Smoking? By / LAT — Permalink The medical marijuana ruling is legally and morally flawed. Monday's Supreme Court ruling against medical marijuana was widely expected, but that doesn't make it defensible from a legal or moral perspective. | |
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Jacob Sullum: Beyond Medical Marijuana — Outrageous as it is that the federal government (or any government) would try to prevent... |
Julian Sanchez: Reason Writers Around Town — Writing in the L.A. Times, Nick Gillespie wonders what sort of human paraquat would give... |
Marijuana Clubs in San Francisco Unfazed by High Court's Ruling Bloomberg — Permalink June 7 (Bloomberg) — Mike Barnes put his mouth on the end of a plastic bag full of marijuana vapors and inhaled deeply. It's a ritual he practices every day to combat chronic back pain from an Army injury. | |
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Norbizness: The people in the marijuana clubs in California have been threatened with criminal prosecution before, and they're still... |
Orin Kerr: Raich and Prosecutorial Discretion: Bloomberg has an interesting story about the consequences (or lack thereof) of... |
The Payoff From Globalization WaPo — Permalink The battle over the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) recalls some familiar themes. The "modern" debate over trade barriers can be traced to the 19th century. Then as now, the debate has been dominated by special interests (land barons vs. merchants in the 19th century; the AFL-CIO vs. the Chamber of Commerce today). | |
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Ezra Klein: Free Trade, Slave Labor — The Washington Post has a profoundly wrongheaded op-ed on CAFTA today. |
Dale Franks: Gary Clyde Hufbauer and Paul L.E. Grieco answer that question for the Washington Post's readers today. |
Military scapegoats walk a well-worn path By / USA Today — Permalink In Fort Hood, Texas, the latest grunt will soon face charges of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib. As with six other GIs, Pfc. Lynndie England will carry more than her individual responsibility for torture into her trial. | |
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Dale Franks: Scapegoats — Law professor Jonathon Turley writes that PFC Lyndie England's Court Martial follows a well-known military... |
Andrew Sullivan: UNSCAPEGOATING: Jonathan Turley makes a powerful case for some more accountability for the detention mess. |
Austin consultant meets with McCain By / Dallas Morning News — Permalink WASHINGTON - Mark McKinnon, the Austin political consultant who oversaw the advertising for President Bush in the 2000 and 2004 campaigns, has committed to help Sen. John McCain in a second presidential bid. | |
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Gerry @DalyThoughts: Dallas News reports, [snipped quote] The bang for the buck that President Bush got out of his advertising in both the... |
Taegan Goddard: McKinnon Signs on with McCain — Mark McKinnon, "who oversaw the advertising for President Bush in the 2000 and 2004... |
Dick Knows By / Slate — Permalink In the days since Mark Felt outed himself as Deep Throat, the requisite cinematic clip is the scene in All the President's Men in which Robert Redford's Bob Woodward meets Hal Holbrook in a parking garage. Dark and clouded with cigarette smoke, the 1976 movie encounter evokes the chiaroscuro ambiance of mystery. | |
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Daniel Drezner: Issenberg, meanwhile, has a great piece in Slate about how Felt's revelations bring to mind an excellent Watergate movie... |
Roger L. Simon: Slate Investigates Watergate... ... not to find the identity of "Deep Throat," but to decide the Best Watergate Movie. |
Hillary Clinton Lashes Out at New Biography NewsMax.com — Permalink An angry Hillary Clinton has responded to a new book highly critical of the New York Senator, calling it a "work of fiction." But a new report about the book confirms what was first revealed exclusively in NewsMax's Insider Report this past weekend: The late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan and his wife, Liz, despised Hillary. | |
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Scott Sala: And those conversations paint an ugly picture. Newsmax has some previews, but Vanity Fair (of Deep Throat scoop fame) will have full excerpts later this month. |
TheAnchoress: UPDATE: Apparently Hillary and Hillary's people are angry about this book, and carrying on about it. Now THIS is going to be interesting. |
Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Over Washington Election By / NYT — Permalink WENATCHEE, Wash., June 6 - A judge in this conservative area of Eastern Washington on Monday rejected claims by Republicans that fraud and illegal votes wrongly put a Democrat, Christine Gregoire, in the governor's office, and in response the Republican candidate, Dino Rossi, said he would end his five-month legal effort to remove her. | |
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Roger Ailes: As the New York Times reported: [quote] "There is no evidence in this record that Ms. Gregoire received any illegal votes," Judge Bridges said.[end quote] |
John Cole: The Never-Ending Election Ends — Looksl ike Gregoire can rest easy now: [snipped quote] You have to just love the write-up: "judge in this conservative area of Eastern Washington." |
Rossi loses in court, won't appeal ruling By / Seattle Times — Permalink WENATCHEE — Judge John Bridges yesterday upheld the election of Gov. Christine Gregoire, thoroughly rejecting Republican claims of wrongdoing and leading Dino Rossi to forgo what the judge thought was an inevitable appeal to the state Supreme Court. | |
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Charles Bird: In a news conference yesterday afternoon, Dino Rossi ended the contest. Kevin Aylward: Update: Rossi will not appeal the decision. |
Taegan Goddard: The Seattle Times notes Rossi's decision brings to a close "seven months of legal and political wrangling over the closest governor's election in the nation's history. |
Rice Taps Longtime Colleagues for Inner Circle By / WaPo — Permalink Before becoming secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice studied the various ways her predecessors managed Foggy Bottom. She concluded she did not want to be barricaded by a palace guard on the seventh floor of the State Department — but she also decided she did not want to let the building run her, aides said. | |
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Taegan Goddard: Rice's Inner Circle — After studying "the various ways her predecessors managed Foggy Bottom," Secretary of State... |
Laura Rozen: Would Bolton shut down the New York North Korea channel, asks a reader: [snipped quote] Rice contradicted Rumsfeld's... |
The inequality myth By / Townhall.com — Permalink In a previous column, I noted the sudden new interest by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal in the issue of income inequality. Since then, the Christian Science Monitor and Business Week have jumped on the bandwagon. | |
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Justin @SouthernAppeal: I think, therefore I am...middle class: The Inequality Myth - "There is an unlimited supply of liberal economists at the... |
Jesse Taylor: The reason I bring this up is because the one time Bruce Bartlett uses the New York Times as an authoritative source is the one time he really, really shouldn't. |
The 'Third Tier' Years By / WaPo — Permalink Not too long ago I went up to Harlem to see Bill Clinton. Our talk was off the record, so I cannot tell you what he said, but I can say — can't I? — that he was smart and encyclopedic and wise and knowledgeable. | |
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Cori Dauber: Still Not Getting It — Richard Cohen writes about the new book on Clinton by John Harris (a book that sounds so good... K. J. Lopez: I JUST CAN'T read the rest of Richard Cohen when he begins like this: "Not too long ago I went up to Harlem to see Bill Clinton. |
Pejman Yousefzadeh: "THE 'THIRD TIER' YEARS" — As I am reading this book, I naturally find this article to be quite interesting. |
Rossi ends the fight Seattle Post-Intelligencer — Permalink The 2004 governor's race is finally over. Republican Dino Rossi said yesterday he would not appeal a Chelan County judge's decision that upheld Gov. Christine Gregoire's slim victory, acknowledging that after Judge John Bridges rejected all of the GOP arguments, he had little chance of prevailing. | |
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Taegan Goddard: Rossi Will Not Appeal — Dino Rossi (R) said he would not appeal a judge's decision that upheld Washington Gov... |
Kos @DailyKos: WA-Gov: Rossi ends election challenge — It's over. [snipped quote] Time to start speculating whether Rossi will challenge Sen. Cantwell next year. |
This is the new CNN: More news, less debate By / USA Today — Permalink CNN announced a slate of programming and anchor changes Monday intended to refocus the No. 2 cable news network on hard news and analysis, and away from opinion and talk. | |
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Brian Stelter: > To USA Today: "I think it's easier to remember one name in the morning," he joked. |
Jim Romenesko: > Blitzer to focus on the day's biggest and most interesting stories" (USAT) > CNN, others have for too long robbed the public of news it deserves (CJR) |
Judge Appears to Follow Own Conservative Path By / LAT — Permalink During her college days, Janice Rogers Brown roamed campus as a single mother with her young son in tow, her hair in what some remembered as "the biggest 'fro there was" and her views so leftist that she later described them as almost Maoist. | |
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La Shawn Barber: I recommend this surprisingly even-handed story feature story about her in the Los Angeles Times (reg. req), and Peter... |
Orrin Judd: Judge Appears to Follow Own Conservative Path (Maura Dolan, June 7, 2005, LA Times) [snipped quote] Is there anyone in the legal community who thinks Thomas follows Scalia? |
U.S., Iraqi troops launch Tal Afar offensive CNN — Permalink TAL AFAR, Iraq (CNN) — U.S. and Iraqi troops on Tuesday launched an offensive against insurgents in the northwestern city of Tal Afar — not far from the Syrian border. | |
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Cernig: OK, it's a Prof. Higgins moment here as CNN reports that the US Cavalry and a few hundred Iraqi troops have launched an... Juan Cole: CNN says, '"There is a major military operation under way here in the city of Tal Afar in northwestern Iraq," said... |
Brian Stelter: The network is labeling its images "CNN exclusive." |
We do not need urgent reforms, says Syrian leader Times of London — Permalink IGNORING international pressure and rising domestic frustration, Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian President, failed yesterday to announce broad and imminent reforms as he opened an eagerly awaited conference of the ruling Baath party. | |
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Norm Geras: First, there's this from Damascus: "...Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian President, failed yesterday to announce broad and... |
Arthur Chrenkoff: Syria - move on, nothing to see here "Ignoring international pressure and rising domestic frustration, Bashar... |
Pension Loopholes Helped United Hide Troubles By / NYT — Permalink Loopholes in the federal pension law allowed United Airlines to treat its pension fund as solid for years, when in fact it was dangerously weakening, according to a new analysis by the agency that guarantees pensions. | |
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Jane Galt: [quote]In fact, the SEC knew all about it: "Loopholes in the federal pension law allowed United Airlines to treat its pension...[end quote] John Cole: Burning Rome Then Fiddling — This just makes you sick to the stomache: [snipped quote] They knew it was happening and... did nothing. |
Kevin Drum: In fact, the SEC knew all about it: [snipped quote] Anytime you see "Enron" and "perfectly legal" together in the same sentence, you just know that something is wrong, don't you? |
Radio Industry Hits Shuffle By / Wired News — Permalink In the tradition-strangled world of commercial radio, all eyes are on that rarest of breeds: a bold new idea. From Seattle and San Diego to Baltimore and Buffalo, more than a dozen big-city radio stations have converted to a format known as Jack-FM over the past two months. | |
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Mitch Berg: Jacked — The "Jack" format - in which an FM station acts like an iPod on shuffle - is getting installed on a whole lot of stations, including 104FM in the Twin Cities. Greg @BeggingToDiffer: The playlist consists of songs one might expect to find on the average 30-something's iPod (as this Wired News article points out). |
Barry L. Ritholtz: You Don't Know Jack (or, Radio Tries the Shuffle Button) in Finance | Music Here at the Big Picture, we have been a fierce critic of FM Radio's foibles. |
Sen. predicts Bolton approval by 'tiniest' margin By / Reuters — Permalink UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A senior Democratic senator said on Monday John Bolton would be confirmed by the "tiniest" of margins as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, thereby sending a signal to the rest of the world that he lacked strong support at home. | |
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Steve Clemons: Senator Leahy is opposed to John Bolton but seems to want to convey that in the end John Bolton is going to squeak through. |
Kos @DailyKos: Leahy: Bolton will squeak through — A signal? : [snipped quote] I'm all for symbolic victories and all, but does anyone... |
Study: U.S. Leads In Mental Illness, Lags in Treatment By / WaPo — Permalink One-quarter of all Americans met the criteria for having a mental illness within the past year, and fully a quarter of those had a "serious" disorder that significantly disrupted their ability to function day to day, according to the largest and most detailed survey of the nation's mental health, published yesterday. | |
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Clayton Cramer: Canada, unfortunately, has gone down much the same deranged path as the U.S. with respect to deinstitutionalization of... Jeralyn Merritt: U.S. Leads World in Mental Illness Sufferers — The U.S. now has more people suffering from mental illness than any other country. |
Jonathan H. Adler: WE'RE NUTS! Surprise, a study finds that the U.S. leads the world in mental illness. |
Spain's ex-PM to Israel: Ignore Europe By / Jerusalem Post — Permalink Israel need not pay much attention to Europe, which is using its Middle East policy to separate itself from the US, has a tendency toward appeasement and is largely pro-Palestinian, former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar told The Jerusalem Post Monday. | |
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Charles Johnson: Aznar: "Europeans Prefer Appeasement" — Former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar tells it like it is: Spain's ex-PM to Israel: Ignore Europe. Ted Belman: Spain's ex-PM to Israel: Ignore Europe — By HERB KEINON, JPOST Israel need not pay much attention to Europe, which is... |
Joseph Alexander Norland: Posted by Joseph Alexander Norland at 08:05 AM | Comments () | TrackBack () True confessions JPost reports: "Spain's... Orrin Judd: THE ONE WHO LOST: Spain's ex-PM to Israel: Ignore Europe (Herb Keinon, Jun. 6, 2005, THE JERUSALEM POST) [snipped quote] Too bad he botched 3-11. |
'Dictatorship Of GOP Leadership'? By / Fox News — Permalink Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine: New York Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton (search) Monday accused what she called "dictatorship of the Republican leadership" of manipulating facts and smearing Democrats (search) to gain political advantage. | |
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Gateway Pundit: Ceci Says "US Kills Prisoners" — Tonight On "Special Report" on FOXNews Channel, Ceci Connolly stated that... "The US has killed over a hundred prisoners in US custody." |
Dirty Harry: Update II: Hume issues correction. Video Here. This segment was aired on Fox News Special Report with Brit Hume. |
Researchers: Dolphins use sponges as tools AP — Permalink WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of dolphins living off the coast of Australia apparently teach their offspring to protect their snouts with sponges while foraging for food in the sea floor. | |
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Andrew Sullivan: DOLPHIN GLOVES: Pliny wouldn't have been surprised. THE LEFT TAKES ON MOORE: Finally, a bona fide lefty tackles the ethics-free grandstanding of Michael Moore. |
Chris Mooney: So Long and Thanks for All the Fish — Dolphins use sponges as tools to protect their noses as they dig around on the ocean floor; mothers teach daughters the behavior. |
Justices Say U.S. May Prohibit the Use of Medical Marijuana By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, June 6 - The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the power of Congress to prohibit and prosecute the possession and use of marijuana for medical purposes, even in the 11 states that permit it. | |
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McQ: The ruling concluded that the federal government had the right to overrule the will of the people of the states in the use of medical marijuana. Chris Nolan: With the U.S. Supreme Court saying Monday that interstate commerce is interstate commerce, regardless if what's being... |
Brad DeLong: I Guess Nino Scalia Really Wants to Be Chief Justice — I must confess that I am surprised at how shallow Scalia's... |
Pope condemns gay marriages as fake and anarchic By / Reuters — Permalink ROME (Reuters) - Pope Benedict, in his first clear pronouncement on gay marriages since his election, on Monday condemned same-sex unions as fake and expressions of "anarchic freedom" that threatened the future of the family. | |
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James Joyner: Pope Benedict: Gay Marriage is Anarchy — Pope condemns gay marriages as fake and anarchic (Reuters) [snipped quote] Once... |
Jayson @PoliPundit: Strict Constructionist — Pope Benedict. Sorry, Dowd-Sullivan, but it's a religion, not a democracy. |
Court Rules Against Pot for Sick People By / AP — Permalink WASHINGTON - Federal authorities may prosecute sick people whose doctors prescribe marijuana to ease pain, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, concluding that state laws don't protect users from a federal ban on the drug. | |
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Joe Gandelman: States Rights Go To Pot In Supreme Court Anti-Pot Decision — To many — including some conservatives — the... Digby: A Land Called Honalee — Those liberal activist judges are at it again. They really are. Avedon Carol: News, views, and chews — Court Rules Against Pot for Sick People. I'm kind of speechless about this. |
Dean Esmay: Antonin Scalia chief among them, along with anyone else who endorses this obscene decision Kudos to Sandra Day O'Connor,... Bill @INDCJournal: Supreme Court: Harshing the National Mellow — I eagerly await conservative cries of "where is the strict constructionism?" after this nifty ruling. Cookie Jill: ap and usatoady and wapo" o'connor - the court was overreaching to endorse "making it a federal crime to grow small... |
| Also: Jan Haugland, James Joyner, Tom @ScaredMonkeys, Radley Balko, Glenn Reynolds, Julian Sanchez, Oliver Willis | |
Senator Clinton Assails Bush and G.O.P. at Campaign Fund-Raiser By / NYT — Permalink Senator Hillary Clinton castigated President Bush and Washington Republicans today as mad with power and bent on marginalizing Democrats during a speech to 1,000 supporters at her first major re-election fund-raiser, which netted about $250,000. | |
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Avedon Carol: Webcrawlin' — Posting at Think Progress, David Sirota points out that it was courageous of Hillary Clinton to criticize the press as she did yesterday. Scott Sala: Hillary Clinton is showing some very un-New York spinelessness by claiming "mad" George Bush is not playing fair! David @ThinkProgress: Check out Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D) courageous comments in the New York Times today. |
Jack Cluth: Hmm...if she walks like a candidate and talks like a candidate... Senator Clinton Assails Bush and G.O.P. at Campaign... Arianna Huffington: Arianna Huffington: Hillary Attacks the GOP and the Media... But Fails to Look in the Mirror — After months of... Lambert @Corrente: [quote]"Let's get some spine." (via Times) [end quote] Start showing some spine by using the active voice! |
| Also: Ezra Klein, Taegan Goddard, K. J. Lopez | |
Pope condemns gay marriages as 'anarchy' Reuters — Permalink ROME (Reuters) - Pope Benedict, in his first clear pronouncement on gay marriages since his election, on Monday condemned same-sex unions as fake and expressions of "anarchic freedom" that threatened the future of the family. | |
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TheAnchoress: And while some would say that a celibate person has nothing to say to the rest of human sexuality, it seems pretty clear... Tbogg: Papal smear — The Guy with The Big Hat says: Pope Benedict, in his first clear pronouncement on gay marriages since his... Ezra Klein: Speaking of take-no-prisoner addresses, Pope Nosferatu Benedict spent the morning offering one of his own: [snipped quote] Huh. |
Andrew Sullivan: THE POPE ON MARRIAGE: I'm waiting to read the full context of the Pope's remarks decrying the possibility of a gay couple committing to each other as "anarchy." McQ: Pope Blasts Gay-Marriage and Abortion — I'm not sure why this is news. Wouldn't it really be news if he didn't? Sadly, No!: Pope "Johnny Rotten" Benedict — Pope Benedict lets out his inner Sex Pistol: [snipped quote] Awesome. |
| Also: Patrick Carver | |
Judge upholds Gregoire's election By / Seattle Post-Intelligencer — Permalink WENATCHEE - Gov. Christine Gregoire's narrow 2004 election victory was upheld this morning by a judge who said Republicans failed to show that voting problems in King County and elsewhere were the reason Gregoire won by 129 votes. | |
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Red @ScaredMonkeys: Following the decision Republican Dino Rossi decided not to go ahead to the state Supreme Court with his legal challenge to the 2004 election of Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire. Captain Ed: Washington Court Upholds Democratic Victory Despite Irregularities — A judge has denied a challenge to the election of... Gerry @DalyThoughts: Rossi Won't Appeal — The newspaper with the oddest name, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, reports: [snipped quote] Now the waiting begins. |
Mathew @Centerfield: Time to Throw in the Towel, Gregoire Wins — From the Seattle Post Intelligencer: "Gov. Christine Gregoire's narrow... Kevin Aylward: Washington State Governor Election Upheld — The last major election from 2004 that was still, marginally, in play moved... Magpie @PacificViews: A Republican attempt to overturn the results of November's gubernatorial election in Washington state has failed, as a... |
| Also: Ace | |
Election trial dispatches By / Seattle Times — Permalink "An election such as this should not be overturned because one judge picks a number and applies a proportional deduction analysis," Bridges said. "To do so within the context of the facts of this case would constitute the ultimate act of judicial egotism and judicial activism." | |
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Crazy Vaclav: For more in-depth coverage, here's David Postman at the Seattle Times, and here's Horse's Ass, who've both done great work on this case. Avedon Carol: From the notebook — Governor Christine Gregoire. Finally. Unsurprisingly, Rossi had nothing to make his case. Oliver Willis: Voters, Dems win in Washington Gubernatorial Case — Judge upholds Gregoire's election "An election such as this should... |
Michelle Malkin: Court adjourned. Next stop: The Washington state supreme court. Seattle Times liveblogged the court ruling as well. Taegan Goddard: Rick Hasen and the Seattle Times "trial dispatches" column has more. K. J. Lopez: "THERE IS NO EVIDENCE IN THIS RECORD THAT MS. GREGOIRE RECEIVED ANY ILLEGAL VOTES," HE SAID. From the ruling. |
Federal Authorities May Prosecute Medical Use of Marijuana By / WaPo — Permalink The Supreme Court ruled today that the federal government has the power to prosecute the use of marijuana for medical purposes even in states that have enacted their own laws permitting it. | |
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Forkum: Doobious — From The Washington Post: A Defeat For Users Of Medical Marijuana; State Laws No Defense, Supreme Court... Michael Froomkin: Wickard Lives! Federal Authorities May Prosecute Medical Use of Marijuana. |
Barbara O'Brien: Win Some, Lose Some — SCOTUS nixies medicinal marijuana (6-3, O'Connor, Rehnquist and Thomas dissenting on states'... Kevin Drum: The Supreme Court ruled today that the constitution's interstate commerce clause gives the federal government the right to regulate medical marijuana use. |
Wash. Judge Upholds Gubernatorial Vote By / AP — Permalink The election — decided by an amazingly close 129 votes out of 2.9 million cast — included 1,678 illegally cast ballots, Chelan County Superior Court Judge John Bridges found. But he said Republicans failed to prove that GOP candidate Dino Rossi would have won if those votes had been disregarded. | |
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Red @ScaredMonkeys: It is hard to imagine that Judge John Bridges could have kept a straight face when he made the comments regarding his ruling to uphold Democrat Christine Gregoire's victory. Alexander K. McClure: 2006 Washington Senate Race — Unfortunately, it now seems that Governor Christine (Hillary-lite) Gregoire is in office for another three years. |
Michelle Malkin: MSM coverage from CNN, AP, USA Today Instant blogger reax... Andy McDonald at Sound Politics: "As voters, we have all... Orrin Judd: POLITICAL, NOT LEGAL (via ph): Wash. Judge Upholds Gubernatorial Vote: Wash. Judge Upholds 2004 Gubernatorial Election,... |
The Mobility Myth By / NYT — Permalink The war that nobody talks about - the overwhelmingly one-sided class war - is being waged all across America. Guess who's winning. A recent front-page article in The Los Angeles Times showed that teenagers are faring poorly in a tight job market because... | |
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Cernig: First, a report from the New York Times which examines the "overwhelmingly one-sided class war" in America. Jesse Taylor: Immobile And Loving It — I have to disagree with this Bob Herbert column. Steve Soto: And Bob Herbert of the Times this morning writes on the declining ability of the lower and middle classes to move up in... |
Ezra Klein: When Class Has Assigned Seating — Bob Herbert's column today on class mobility is excellent. David Sirota: "Under the Bush tax cuts, the 400 taxpayers with the highest incomes - a minimum of $87 million in 2000, the last year... Paul @PowerLine: We discussed the situation in Guantanamo Bay, Howard Dean, and a piece by Bob Herbert which contends that income... |
| Also: Attaturk, Peter Burnet | |
New York State Board Rejects Plan to Fund West Side Stadium NYT — Permalink Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's nearly four-year quest to build a Manhattan football stadium that could spark the redevelopment of the West Side and lure the Olympic Games to New York was defeated yesterday when two of Albany's leaders refused to approve the $2.2 billion project. | |
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Jim Henley: No comment yet, add yours? » Congrats To our neighbors to the North for, it seems, actually killing a stadium boondoggle. Jeff A. Taylor: Albany to NYC Stadium: Drop Dead — I do not for a minute understand exactly why a plan for a $2.2 billion stadium for... |
Patrick: Mayor Bloomberg's deranged West Side Stadium plan is dead. Thank God, or failing that, thank a crafty little obstructionist Albany legislator named Sheldon Silver. |
Consumer Vertigo By / Reason — Permalink When customers enter the Ralphs supermarket near UCLA, they see a sign announcing how many different fruits and vegetables the produce department has on hand: "724 produce varieties available today," it says, including 93 organic selections. | |
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Bigwig: You should only need one. All are taken from this Virgina Postrel article at Reason. Virginia Postrel: My Reason feature examining the arguments that Americans (and residents of market democracies in general) have too much choice is finally online. |
Glenn Reynolds: Virginia Postrel says no, but notes that claims of too many choices seem to be the Next Big Thing in doomsaying. |
Texas Governor Draws Criticism for a Bill-Signing Event at an Evangelical School By / NYT — Permalink FORT WORTH, June 5 - Making good on a Republican campaign call to celebrate with "Christian friends," Gov. Rick Perry traveled to an evangelical school here on Sunday to put his signature on measures to restrict abortion and prohibit same-sex marriage. | |
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Greg Piper: But Rick Perry made a monumentally bad decision when he signed a parental-consent bill for minors seeking abortion in a religious private school. K. J. Lopez: GOVERNOR MCGINLEY — The Texas governor is getting grief for a bill signing at a religious school. It sounds like criticism is appropriate. |
Norbizness: I'd Like Four Fried Chickens and Eternal Salvation — You might think that I would get upset over our Governor's signing... |
Supreme Court allows prosecution of medical marijuana By / CNN — Permalink WASHINGTON (CNN) — The U.S. Supreme Court Monday ruled doctors can be blocked from prescribing marijuana for patients suffering from pain caused by cancer or other serious illnesses. | |
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Steve Bainbridge: The Medical Marijuana Case — Supreme Court holds "that federal anti-drug laws trump state laws that allow the use of medical marijuana." Tom @ScaredMonkeys: Here is the round up: AP Washington Post USA TODAY CNN For text excerpts from these articles, please click the "Read... |
James Joyner: Supreme Court allows prosecution of medical marijuana (CNN) [snipped quote] While I disagree with the public policy of... Chris Lawrence: The Supreme Court creates more work for me — I'd personally like to thank the Supreme Court for announcing its decision... |
Court rules medical marijuana laws don't shield users USA Today — Permalink WASHINGTON — Federal authorities may prosecute sick people who smoke marijuana for medicinal purposes, even in states that have legalized the practice, the Supreme Court ruled Monday. Diane Monson, one of the chronically ill Californians who brought the case, smokes marijuana at her home last November. | |
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Gerry @DalyThoughts: Court rules medical marijuana laws don't shield users — USAToday: "Federal authorities may prosecute sick people who... |
Kevin Aylward: Supreme Court Rules Medical Marijuana Is Still A Banned Drug — Buzzkill.WASHINGTON - Federal authorities may prosecute... |
WATERGATE DAYS New Yorker — Permalink It was late in the evening on May 16, 1973, and I was in the Washington bureau of the Times, immersed in yet another story about Watergate. The paper had been overwhelmed by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's reporting for the Washington Post the previous year, and I was trying to catch up. | |
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Billmon: Update 6:20 PM: Sy Hersh has a richly textured Watergate memoir out in the New Yorker, which, among other things,... |
Laura Rozen: Seymour Hersh's account of playing catch up to Woodstein during Watergate has some fun moments: [snipped quote] And some more serious ones. |
Grounding a Pandemic NYT — Permalink Washington — When we think of the major threats to our national security, the first to come to mind are nuclear proliferation, rogue states and global terrorism. But another kind of threat lurks beyond our shores, one from nature, not humans - an avian flu pandemic. | |
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Steve Antler: Barack Obama and Richard Lugar complain there's no easy, short-term, inexpensive solution to a potential bird flu... Tom Maguire: The World Is Flat (And Someone Has The Flu) Barack Obama and Richard Lugar write in the Times about the scary prospects... |
Glenn Reynolds: BARACK OBAMA AND RICHARD LUGAR have more on avian flu, in the New York Times. |
Causing a Commotion NRO — Permalink "Downing Street Memo" is old news. It is July 2002. A British report notes that Prime Minister Tony Blair had "decided Britain must back any US assault and had ordered defence planners to begin the preparations for a new war in the Gulf." | |
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Arthur Chrenkoff: At NRO, Jim Robbins discusses the now infamous 2002 Downing Street memo and notes that as an Iraq war smoking gun, it's of a pretty localiberre. Jesse Taylor: Write an article arguing that everything they're complaining about was already out there before the major document proving the same thing was released. Michelle Malkin: DISSECTING THE DOWNING STREET MEMO — NRO's James S. Robbins takes apart the so-called "smoking gun" war memo that has the Left in a tizzy. |
Kevin Aylward: Downing Street Memo Dissected — James S. Robbins, senior fellow in national-security affairs at the American Foreign... Mitch Berg: UPDATE: Folsom James Phillips of the Monkeys notes that James Robbins has the dirt on the "memo" in question. |
Ivory tower effort won't make media more diverse By / Chicago Sun Times — Permalink When the journalism profession looks in the mirror, it doesn't like what it sees. It sees a public turned off by the news — news of a never-ending succession of our journalistic crimes from plagiarism to fabrication; squabbles over anonymous sources; half-hearted mea culpas, and just-plain-old screw-ups. | |
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Jesse Taylor: Respect Mah Diversitah — Laura Washington's column on improving media diversity is awesome - as long as you realize that it's not really about anything. Jim Romenesko: Plan to improve journalism education is "wrongheaded" — Chicago Sun-Times | PressThink That's what Laura Washington says. |
Jeff Jarvis: MORE: Laura Washington writes in the Sun-Times that journalism's mirror is cracked: [snipped quote] Whoa about there. |
Justices deal blow to medical marijuana AP — Permalink WASHINGTON - Federal authorities may prosecute sick people who smoke pot on doctors' orders, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, concluding that state medical marijuana laws don't protect users from a federal ban on the drug. | |
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Tbogg: Round up all the chemotherapy criminals — Digby cuts to the chase on todays medical marijuana ruling which has just... Attaturk: No Pot for you. The Supreme Court rules against marijuana as medicine. I am shocked and appalled, but unfortunately not stoned. Jayson @PoliPundit: The Federal Supremacy Clause — On display. |
Captain Ed: SCOTUS Harshes Everyone's Mellow — The Supreme Court dealt a body blow to medical marijuana advocates this morning by... Matt Davis: Medical marijuana is against the law again. |
Clerics strip fugitive Taliban leader of power By / Telegraph — Permalink A crowd of 600 Afghan clerics gathered in front of an historic mosque yesterday to strip the fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar of his claim to religious authority, in a ceremony that provided a significant boost to the presidency of Hamid Karzai. | |
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Arthur Chrenkoff: Take this story, for example: "A crowd of 600 Afghan clerics gathered in front of an historic mosque yesterday to strip... James Joyner: Clerics strip fugitive Taliban leader of power (London Telegraph) [snipped quote] As big a breathrough as stripping Omar... McQ: A very interesting development in Afghanistan: [snipped quote] What has been removed from the radical Taliban faction... |
Captain Ed: That's exactly what has happened in Afghanistan, where 600 Muslim clerics announced that Mullah Omar has been stripped... Jan Haugland: Afghan clerics strip Mullah Omar of authority — This is definately good news from Afghanistan: A crowd of 600 Afghan... Dr. Steven Taylor: Clerics Strip Mullah Omar of Religious Authority — Via the Telegraph: Clerics strip fugitive Taliban leader of power [snipped quote] Symbolically, quite significant. |
| Also: FrancoAlemán, Pejman Yousefzadeh, Marc @USSNeverdock | |
Senate to Try to Confirm Bush Nominees By / AP — Permalink WASHINGTON - After months of arguing, the Senate will try to confirm as many as four of President Bush's nominations to the U.S. Appeals Court in the next week or so, including California judge Janice Rogers Brown and former Alabama Attorney General William Pryor. | |
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Hugh Hewitt: This AP account of the judges "deal" is troubling: "Frist and Reid also said they had agreed to move forward on Griffin... Michael DeBow: Senate's timetable for judicial nominees, according to an AP story filed this afternoon: "After months of arguing, the... |
Jayson @PoliPundit: Moving Forward — On the re-alignment of the federal judiciary, that is. And then we'll eventually get to Henry Saad and William Myers. |
Nixon's henchmen lecture us on ethics By / Newsday — Permalink History's latest con happened right before our eyes Tuesday night. We thought we'd settled in to watch the nonstop cable news when suddenly our television screen was transformed into Alice's looking glass. All reality was backward. | |
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Brad DeLong: Martin Schram reports: Newsday.com: Nixon's henchmen lecture us on ethics: History's latest con happened right before... Taegan Goddard: One More Con — Today's must-read piece is by Martin Schram on how President Richard Nixon's "former henchmen" are now lecturing us on ethics. Josh Marshall: Martin Shram has an Oped in Newsday today ("Nixon's Henchman Lecture Us on Ethics"), which pulls together in one nice... |
Avedon Carol: Who can resist an article called Nixon's henchmen lecture us on ethics by Martin Schram in Newsday? Not me. Cookie Jill: commit crime = moral, "tattle the truth" = immoral shocking to see who's "morally indignant" these days |
Amnesty USA backs off Gitmo as 'gulag' Chicago Sun Times — Permalink Amnesty International, which set off a storm by calling the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay "the gulag of our times," backed away from the label Sunday. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had ripped as "reprehensible" the description, made last month when the human rights group's secretary general, Irene Khan, issued its annual report. | |
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Joe Gandelman: Another report adds these details: [quote] On "Fox News Sunday," host Chris Wallace asked William Schulz, director of Amnesty...[end quote] Hugh Hewitt: Lilek's has launched Screedblog, a fine addition to the morning reads. Did we say "gulag?" Sorry about that. Mary Madigan: Not an exact or literal analogy... by Mary Madigan Via the Chicago Sun Times:* [quote] On "Fox News Sunday," host Chris...[end quote] |
Blackfive: While Amnesty International backs off it's claim that Gitmo is a "gulag" (and admits that it was done to get attention... Red @ScaredMonkeys: (Full Transcript from Fox News Sunday can be seen here) Chicago Sun Times adds, "Amnesty International, which set off... |
Two Democrats Disavow Dean's Jab at GOP WaPo — Permalink Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) and former senator John Edwards (D-N.C.) distanced themselves over the weekend from remarks by Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, who is facing criticism for the pace of the party's fundraising. | |
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Abel Rabinowitz: With Joe Biden declaring that Howard Dean does not speak for him, and John Edwards insisting that "[t]he chairman of the... Red @ScaredMonkeys: Distancing yourself from the spokesperson of your party? Where is that unity that Democrats were talking about? |
Billmon: But, as witless as Dean's crack was, his immediate repudiation by the mushy moderates — in this case, John "Opie" Edwards and Joe "Badger" Biden — was in some ways worse. K. J. Lopez: My translation of John Edwards in Nashville saying: [quote] "The chairman of the DNC is not the spokesman for the party," Edwards said, according to the Associated Press.[end quote] |
Supreme Court: Medical Marijuana Use Criminal By / WaPo — Permalink The Supreme Court ruled today that states may not enact their own laws allowing medical use of marijuana. In a 6-3 decision, the court agreed with the Bush administration that the regulation of controlled substances, including marijuana, is the exclusive province of Congress. | |
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Clayton Cramer: U.S. Supreme Court Rules on Medical Marijuana — The decision isn't up on the Supreme Court's web site yet (now it is:... Radley Balko: Raich — How incredibly depressing. |
Angry Clam: Answer after the jump. It was Justice Stevens, refusing to strike down marijuana regulations in Raich v. Ashcroft. Jim Henley: Comments () » Raich Only Anthony Hecht, in fragment, is adequate to the moment: [snipped quote] Gah. |
High Court Allows Prosecution of Medical Marijuana Users AP — Permalink WASHINGTON — Federal authorities may prosecute sick people whose doctors prescribe marijuana to ease pain, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, concluding that state laws don't protect users from a federal ban on the drug. | |
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Shawn @LiquidList: Take today's ruling on medical marijuana, for example. John Cole: Thank You, Justice Department — Thank goodness for the Justice Department. Now we can send cancer patients to jail for smoking pot under Doctor's orders. |
Matt Singer: Update - The more complete AP story has Rehnquist and Thomas joining in the dissent. That's an interesting divide. |
The Unquiet American By / Washington Monthly — Permalink The sun sets early in Iraq in December. So, it would have been approaching dusk—calm and eerie—when Dale Stoffel climbed into the passenger seat of his black BMW station wagon at Taji military base outside of Baghdad. | |
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Eriposte @LeftCoaster: Laura Rozen at War and Piece brings to our attention a Washington Monthly article (and a related Los Angeles Times... |
Laura Rozen: A well-told and disturbing tale from the Washington Monthly about the life and death of Dale Stoffel, an American arms... |
Stripping Mullah Omar By / Opinion Journal — Permalink Over the last few weeks, Afghanistan has been in the news again—unfortunately, for all the wrong reasons. The media pack has made a brief reappearance in Afghanistan to report on carefully staged "spontaneous" riots, which briefly erupted around the country,... | |
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James Joyner: Arthur Chrenkoff notes in today's OpinionJournal that there have been numerous other positive developments in Afghanistan of late. Arthur Chrenkoff: Good news from Afghanistan, 6 June 2005 — Note: Also available from "The Opinion Journal" and Chrenkoff. FrancoAlemán: NEW ROUNDUP by Arthur Chrenkoff of the good news coming from Afghanistan. |
John @PowerLine: Today's edition is on Afghanistan, and it is absolutely unbelievable. It seems just about book-length, and covers improvements in every phase of Afghan life. Jan Haugland: Arthur Chrenkoff leads with this story in his 13th installment of Good news from Afghanistan. Glenn Reynolds: CHESTER is correcting John F. Burns' analysis. Meanwhile, Arthur Chrenkoff writes: [snipped quote] I had missed the story about Mullah Omar being stripped. |
| Also: Marc @USSNeverdock | |
Jackson Jury Resumes Deliberations, Asks Judge Question Fox News — Permalink SOLVANG, Calif. — As the jury deciding his guilt or innocence deliberated for its first full day and sent out a question to the judge, pop music icon Michael Jackson (search) was in and out of the hospital again, this time for another back problem. | |
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Jeralyn Merritt: The jury had a question today, but the Judge has decided those will be addressed in private. |
Forkum: From FoxNews: Jacko Jury Finishes First Day of Deliberations. |
Tancredo working to turn the tide Denver Post — Permalink Warning of the balkanization of the U.S. from immigration and the threat of the cult of multiculturalism, U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo spoke to anti-immigration activists last weekend in Las Vegas. One fan yelled out, Tancredo for president! | |
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Kos @DailyKos: GOP hate-monger testing presidential waters — Hateful anti-immigrant crusader Tom Tancredo is exploring a presidential bid. |
Taegan Goddard: Tancredo Rides Immigration Issue — "With most analysts betting that immigration will play a major role in the 2008... |